biba
12-06-2007, 03:05 PM
Spurs are Jazz's nemesis, measuring stick
By Gordon Monson The Salt Lake Tribune
http://www.sltrib.com/jazz/ci_7651841
There are so many competitively meaningless exhibitions in an NBA regular season, a numbing apathy - even felt by the players - can set in around the uninspired humdrum of some games.
Not Friday night's.
The Jazz aren't on the road against any normal team. This isn't Memphis, or Golden State, or Seattle, or Portland, or . . . zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz . . . some other mediocre outfit they could and should beat in various degrees of slumber.
This particular contest means something beyond numerical increase or decrease in the win-loss record.
This opponent is more than just the next bunch of stiffs on a seemingly never-ending slate of bunches of stiffs faced night after night after night from November to April.
Who's up? Oh, OK, whatever.
No.
The Spurs are the Jazz's nemesis. Even more, they are the Jazz's measuring stick, against which they can size themselves up and gauge their progress from the last time these two teams played, such as it was, in the Western Conference finals.
We all know how that turned out.
And now we'll know more.
A lot more, even if Tim Duncan can't play on account of an ankle sprain suffered earlier in the week. Briefly losing the two-time NBA MVP, who is
averaging 18 points and nine boards this season, might severely hamper an ordinary team. But San Antonio beat Dallas, one of its chief rivals, on Wednesday night without their main cog. Manu Ginobili, who also was fighting a bruised hand, dropped 37 points on the Mavs in Duncan's absence, and Tony Parker added another 23, and the Spurs did what champions do regardless of the circumstances: They won, again.
"This really showed the character of this team," Parker said, afterward. "To play without our best player, our franchise guy, everybody had to step up. Fabricio, Elson, Bruce, Finley, they all did. And Manu had an incredible game."
Remember those guys?
Last year's playoff series with them was, ultimately, the closure on the Jazz's freeway toward heightened awareness regarding how good they might be, or, at least, become. The Jazz emerged through the first two rounds, surprising maybe even themselves en route. But the Spurs quickly blew holes in their new hopes, revealing the considerable work left in front of the youngsters to ascend to the NBA's top level.
The memory of the Spurs disassembling and eliminating the Jazz in Game 5 at San Antonio by a whopping 25 points - the Jazz's 19th consecutive loss there - is still clear. The Jazz got rolled that night, looking confused and disheartened and panicked, especially at the offensive end, chucking shots up from all over the place. The building roared as the Spurs shot 65 percent in the first period, and their first-half lead grew to 23 points. The rest was just as ugly.
"They came at us hard," said a disappointed Jerry Sloan, after the Jazz were done. "We abandoned our offense."
That lopsided ending was also punctuated in the postgame by Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer complaining about a couple of teammates. Willams said "there were some guys already on vacation. On vacation a long time ago."
Added Boozer: "It's sad to have that . . . You have a couple of guys on vacation. That's a problem and we have to get it fixed this summer . . . We need guys who have a championship vision."
Williams and Boozer, though, played crappy in Game 5, too.
When fully dialed in, the veteran Spurs have a way of doing that to opponents, especially young, aspiring teams who are rapidly ascending, who are showing great promise, but who yet have to grow and mature and learn how and for what to prepare in order to reach the pinnacle.
The Jazz appear to be on that hopeful, lofty course.
But here's the thing: nobody knows with exactness - until the Jazz are faced with playing a team like San Antonio, again, particularly on the road. That's the real measure. That's when and where the revelations are plain to see and interpret, not against a steady diet of typical NBA fare.
The Jazz may catch a break tonight. They might get the Spurs without their top player, the guy who triggers everything around him, who over the long haul contributes so significantly to their prowess. But, as Dallas found out the other night, they are still the best team in basketball, champions in every competitive sense.
They are the truth the still-developing Jazz must face.
And find a way to conquer.
GORDON MONSON hosts "The Big Show" weekdays from 3-7 p.m. on 1280 AM The Zone. He can be reached at [email protected].
By Gordon Monson The Salt Lake Tribune
http://www.sltrib.com/jazz/ci_7651841
There are so many competitively meaningless exhibitions in an NBA regular season, a numbing apathy - even felt by the players - can set in around the uninspired humdrum of some games.
Not Friday night's.
The Jazz aren't on the road against any normal team. This isn't Memphis, or Golden State, or Seattle, or Portland, or . . . zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz . . . some other mediocre outfit they could and should beat in various degrees of slumber.
This particular contest means something beyond numerical increase or decrease in the win-loss record.
This opponent is more than just the next bunch of stiffs on a seemingly never-ending slate of bunches of stiffs faced night after night after night from November to April.
Who's up? Oh, OK, whatever.
No.
The Spurs are the Jazz's nemesis. Even more, they are the Jazz's measuring stick, against which they can size themselves up and gauge their progress from the last time these two teams played, such as it was, in the Western Conference finals.
We all know how that turned out.
And now we'll know more.
A lot more, even if Tim Duncan can't play on account of an ankle sprain suffered earlier in the week. Briefly losing the two-time NBA MVP, who is
averaging 18 points and nine boards this season, might severely hamper an ordinary team. But San Antonio beat Dallas, one of its chief rivals, on Wednesday night without their main cog. Manu Ginobili, who also was fighting a bruised hand, dropped 37 points on the Mavs in Duncan's absence, and Tony Parker added another 23, and the Spurs did what champions do regardless of the circumstances: They won, again.
"This really showed the character of this team," Parker said, afterward. "To play without our best player, our franchise guy, everybody had to step up. Fabricio, Elson, Bruce, Finley, they all did. And Manu had an incredible game."
Remember those guys?
Last year's playoff series with them was, ultimately, the closure on the Jazz's freeway toward heightened awareness regarding how good they might be, or, at least, become. The Jazz emerged through the first two rounds, surprising maybe even themselves en route. But the Spurs quickly blew holes in their new hopes, revealing the considerable work left in front of the youngsters to ascend to the NBA's top level.
The memory of the Spurs disassembling and eliminating the Jazz in Game 5 at San Antonio by a whopping 25 points - the Jazz's 19th consecutive loss there - is still clear. The Jazz got rolled that night, looking confused and disheartened and panicked, especially at the offensive end, chucking shots up from all over the place. The building roared as the Spurs shot 65 percent in the first period, and their first-half lead grew to 23 points. The rest was just as ugly.
"They came at us hard," said a disappointed Jerry Sloan, after the Jazz were done. "We abandoned our offense."
That lopsided ending was also punctuated in the postgame by Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer complaining about a couple of teammates. Willams said "there were some guys already on vacation. On vacation a long time ago."
Added Boozer: "It's sad to have that . . . You have a couple of guys on vacation. That's a problem and we have to get it fixed this summer . . . We need guys who have a championship vision."
Williams and Boozer, though, played crappy in Game 5, too.
When fully dialed in, the veteran Spurs have a way of doing that to opponents, especially young, aspiring teams who are rapidly ascending, who are showing great promise, but who yet have to grow and mature and learn how and for what to prepare in order to reach the pinnacle.
The Jazz appear to be on that hopeful, lofty course.
But here's the thing: nobody knows with exactness - until the Jazz are faced with playing a team like San Antonio, again, particularly on the road. That's the real measure. That's when and where the revelations are plain to see and interpret, not against a steady diet of typical NBA fare.
The Jazz may catch a break tonight. They might get the Spurs without their top player, the guy who triggers everything around him, who over the long haul contributes so significantly to their prowess. But, as Dallas found out the other night, they are still the best team in basketball, champions in every competitive sense.
They are the truth the still-developing Jazz must face.
And find a way to conquer.
GORDON MONSON hosts "The Big Show" weekdays from 3-7 p.m. on 1280 AM The Zone. He can be reached at [email protected].